


Trick or Treat, Blue Paladin

by enjayas



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Universe, Halloween, Implied Smut, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Smut, Suddenly Fluff, Vampire Bites, Vampire Sex, bratty lance, but Lance is totally into it, subby Lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:08:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27316786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enjayas/pseuds/enjayas
Summary: The Voltron crew is missing Halloween, so naturally, Lance decides they should throw a party in space! There's just one problem, he has to invite Lotor...
Relationships: Lance/Lotor (Voltron)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 88
Collections: Monster Mash Voltron Halloween Bash





	1. Trick or Treat, Blue Paladin

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Hot Garbage Halloween Fic 2k20!  
> It's Lancelot. It's smutty. It has vampires (kind of...)
> 
> Full disclosure - Due to life and Halloween deadlines burning me like a candle at both ends, I didn't spend as much time on this as I usual would. But that's okay! Writing faster is good practice and I'm actually really happy it got done at all ^_^
> 
>   
> This is part of a Halloween Bang with some friends. Please check out the rest of the fics in this collection too! Happy Halloween, everyone and please stay safe!

  


Lance was bored. And horny.

Again.

He released a sigh, long and dramatic, from where he lay on one of the couches in the main room of the castleship. In typical Lance fashion, he wasn’t sitting on it properly. He was more lounging, limbs at all angles and with one leg kicked up over the back of it. He heaved again at his plight. Being horny in space was pretty much the worst thing possible. There were no girls in space, save for the occasional pretty alien, but those encounters rarely lasted longer than a selfie and some flirty quips. They’d been in space for who knows how long and the only girls around were Pidge, who was basically his sister, and Allura. And she was _not_ interested. Lance glanced to where the Altean princess was deep in what appeared to be a rather serious discussion with Shiro across the bay. He’d tried to talk to her three times already only to be given her _‘I’m busy, stop interrupting’_ face. He rolled onto his side, miffed all over again.

“How’s that calculation coming along, Pidge?” He asked to distract himself from raging hormones and repeated rejection.

Pidge, also in her usual position, was crosslegged on the floor and hunched over a screen. A growing mess of wires and repurposed Altean hardware - her latest experiment that was rapidly claiming more and more real estate in their adopted living room - hummed away at her side. Hunk, who had been helping with the project, was next to her checking her math for what must have been the tenth time by Lance’s count.

“Any minute now,” Pidge muttered as numbers on the holographic screen scrolled rapidly in front of focused eyes and a knitted brow. “One second... Just one more second… Aha!” The flashing numerals ceased, leaving a string of digits separated by dashes on the screen. “It worked!”

“No way, really?” Hunk peered over her shoulder, equally delighted. 

“Yep! Hey, you guys!” She called to the rest of the crew. Keith looked up from where he was practicing with his knife not far away. Even Shiro and Allura paused their discussion of tactics. “According to my calculations,” Pidge continued. “It’s anywhere from the second to last day in October to the first two days of November back home.”

“What? The end of October?!” Lance whined and practically melted off the couch in dismay. “Seriously? We’re going to miss Halloween?”

“Well, unless we magically get the wormhole drive working in the next few hours _and_ figure out where to point it in the vastness of the infinite cosmos… Then, yeah. We’re missing Halloween.” Pidge sighed with him.

“And probably Christmas, too.” Hunk saddened, thinking of the cookies he likely wouldn’t be baking for his siblings that year.

“Man, Halloween was always the best. My older brothers used to take me trick-or-treating when I was kid,” Lance reminisced. “The decorations, the parties, the _costumes..._ ” He gazed wistfully off into space.

“Halloween? Isn’t that for kids?” Keith chimed in.

“Oh, ho. You would think that, Keith.” Lance fired back. Now that he was older, he had a special appreciation for the costumes in particular and the lengths girls would go to be the latest sexy version of something. “Halloween is basically an excuse to look hot if you want it to be.” He would have been eighteen this year too, old enough to celebrate it properly. “This is the first time it’s really sinking in, what we’re missing back home.” He saddened, bored and horny hitting him all over again.

“Yeah. It was Matt and mine’s favorite holiday, too,” Pidge lamented for entirely different reasons.

“Well, hey, What’s stopping us?” Lance started. “It’s Halloween on Earth, why can’t it also be Halloween in space? Allura, you said yourself we have several quintants of travel ahead of us.”

“Hm, I suppose we do have the bandwidth for it. And, some downtime might improve our spirits in time for the next battle.” She scowled thoughtfully at the large screen with tactical plans laid out.

“Or you know, we could just have fun for the sake of having fun.” Lance grew annoyed with her. He tried to parlay it into habitual flirtation but it came out dampened. He was just going to get shot down again.

He was. She didn’t bother replying.

Rolling his eyes at snooty space princesses, he turned back to the rest of the gang. “Come on, guys. Let’s do it. Let’s have Halloween in space!” 

“I guess I could use some of that space trash to make some spooky decorations.”

“Yeah, and I could whip us up some treats!”

Pidge and Hunk were in.

Keith shrugged with mild intrigue and went along with the group.

“Shiro?” Lance flashed their former leader his most charismatic grin.

“Gosh, I haven’t celebrated Halloween since I was a cadet at the Garrison.” Shiro lit up like a pumpkin in late-October. “I could be an astronaut. Or a space pirate! No, a- a Paladin! Or, or- Oh, uh, I mean…” He cleared his throat and quickly restored his serious demeanor. “I defer to the princess on this one. She makes the call on the optimal use of our time.” 

All eyes were on Allura.

“Hm, it is not ideal. We really ought to be preparing…” She frowned, seeing the hope a mere mention of a party had inspired in her crew. “Fine.” She relented to cheers and high fives between the Garrison Trio. “On one condition, Lance,” she continued.

“Name your price, space babe.” Lance waggled his eyebrows with the maximum obnoxiousness just to get under her skin.

“You have to invite Lotor.”

“What? _Lotor?_ ” The blue paladin crumpled along with his excitement. 

“Stupid Lotor.” Lance muttered under his breath. He kicked the floor as he made his way down a dark corridor in the depths of the castleship. Lotor had been spending a lot of time in the library lately, searching for anything in the Altean archives that might give them an edge on Zarkon. Lance had been happy enough to leave him be down there and forget he existed. He could rot in the basement for all Lance cared. The last thing he wanted to do was invite Allura’s probably-boyfriend to a party that had been _his_ idea. He didn’t even really like Allura like that anymore, it just pissed him off that Lotor of all people had gotten the chance he hadn’t.

The hallway was dark and chilly. Shadows and cobwebs from millennia of going undusted were clustered every crevice, every indentation in the wall. It was eerie, being alone down there. Alone, except for-

 _Ten thousand years of spiders._ Lance hugged his elbows as a shiver ran down his spine. Lotor would like hanging out somewhere so creepy. 

Something came into view at the end of the hall just outside the library. An oversized painting - a portrait - of King Alfor. It was covered in just as many cobwebs but with a gap around his face. Lance zig-zagged as he approached, not fully convinced that the eyes weren’t following him.

Something sounded behind him. Lance nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Who’s there?” He spun around.

There was no reply. Something too big to be a spider scurried off into the darkness.

“P-Probably just the space mice,” he laughed nervously and wished he’d brought Hunk with him. He took a moment to gather his wits outside the double doors to the library. He was just freaking himself out because it was Halloween. All he had to do was invite the pretty-boy prince to the party and be done with it. Get in, get out, get back upstairs and never come to this creepy part of the castle again.

He poked his head into the library and took in the spooky room. It was lowly lit with flickering candles. They’d conserved power by cutting it in unnecessary areas; Lotor had insisted he didn’t need it. Tall shelves filled to the brim with books stretched to the ceiling and went on in every direction for as far as Lance could see. He squinted in the darkness and spotted a patch of warm light a dozen or so rows away. He set out for it.

Lance found the Galran Prince between two shelves of encyclopedia-thick books, a collection of candles, some on the floor, some hovering the air, either by Altean or some other form of space magic, around him. Deep in concentration, he poured over a volume too large to play doorstop and just inches shy of doubling as a stepping stool.

That lighting, that _ambiance_ , it suited him. Lance caught himself staring, Lotor looked _good_. He quickly banished the thought from his mind. It was bad enough when Keith started to look appealing, but Lotor? Come on!

Lance let his presence - and his annoyance - be known with an audible sigh.

“Hey, we’re having a Halloween party upstairs in a few hours. I’m supposed to ask you to come.” His intentionally drab, monotonous tone made it as unappealing as possible. 

Lotor turned a page without replying. 

“Uh, _hello?”_

“Oh, it’s you. The blue one.” Lotor blinked up at him, evidently not having noticed.

Lance huffed again, certain that had been an insult. “Yeah, it’s me. We’re doing a thing upstairs in a few hours. Are you coming or not?”

“Is it related to the mission?”

“No, just some, uh, _random fun_.” Lance forced a smile and hoped it came out as disingenuous as it felt. What did Allura even see in this bookworm?

“Oh. I’ll pass,” Lotor frowned. “I ought to keep researching.”

“So, you’re declining the invitation...” A smirk pulled at Lance’s lip.

“What invitation?”

“TO THE PARTY!” Lance tried to contain his outburst. “Yeah. _My_ party, now that you mention it.”

“You want _me_ to attend _your_ party?” Lotor was, understandably, confused.

“No. Not particularly, I don’t. So how ‘bout you just stay put down here and mind your own business!” Lance snapped. He turned on his heels and stomped back in the direction he’d come from. He’d done as Allura had asked. Lotor wasn’t interested. They could all enjoy the party without some obnoxious space prince and his nice hair ruining their good time.

Lance stopped near the end of the aisle of books. Sighing, he turned back to Lotor. 

“Look, Allura asked me to invite you. And, you’re kind of a member of this team now, so in the interests of team building, would you please come to my damn party?” It was the most genuine invitation he could procure.

“Allura did?” The way Lotor instantly perked up at the mention of her name but ignored everything else that had been said only irritated Lance further. “Of course. I’ll be there,” Lotor confirmed. “What is it that we’re celebrating exactly?”

Lance blinked once, twice, thrice while contemplating whether it was worth the _guargantuan_ effort it would take to explain - let alone to get a stuck up space prince to comprehend - Halloween and why it was objectively the greatest holiday ever.

Lance sighed himself against the nearest bookshelf and slowly slid to the floor. This was going to take a while.

* * *

“So you carve a face into a vegetable, light it on fire on your doorstep, and then strangers give you sweets?” 

Lotor had joined him on the floor.

“No, you give _the strangers_ sweets. When they come to your door. And it’s not on fire-”

“Why would I give my sweets away?” Lotor looked at him like he was crazy. “And certainly not to strangers. Really, Blue Paladin…” He turned back to his book with mild ire. “You’re going to have to try harder than that if you want to trick me.”

“I’M NOT TRYING TO- Well, actually, tricking is part of it. But that’s not what I’m doing here!”

Lotor hummed, tapping his chin. “And we’re all supposed to don some sort of attire for this party you’re throwing.”

“Yeah, a Halloween costume.”

“A Halloween cos… tume…” Lotor’s eyes drifted to the nearest stack of books as if he wanted to research what exactly that entailed.

“Ugh, just freaking come as you are. You practically look like a vampire anyways.”

“Vampires?” Lotor’s head turned. “I know about vampires.”

“Wait, really?” Lance cocked his head in surprise. “D-Do they have those in space? Oh my god, are vampires real?” He was both intrigued and vaguely terrified.

“Of course they’re real!” Lotor scoffed. “There was once an entire Galran faction that achieved their reign through rather _vampiric_ means.” He grabbed the nearest candle and illuminated his face from the below for effect.

“Holy shit. Did they, like, suck each other’s blood and stuff?”

“Their essence, yes.” He leaned into the candle light. “Perhaps your equivalent of blood. It was the easiest way to instill Galra-like abilities in other races, thereby increasing their ranks and numbers.” He held Lance’s wide-eyed gaze for a moment. “But it is not practiced anymore. Even the most barbaric tribes abandoned it when Zarkon came to power. After all, Zarkon has always had a certain proclivity for pure blood and spurned, well, Galrans like me.”

“Wait. Are you saying, a Galra - any Galra - can give a not-Galra Galra-like powers? As in, turn them? Like vampires and the undead?” 

“That would be a conclusion one could draw.” Lotor flashed a fang in the candlelight.

“Holy shit, vampires are real!” Lance clutched his face in shock.

Lotor made a troubled face. “It’s not something that’s really spoken about anymore.” 

“And you, you’re a- You’re a space vampire.” Lance’s eyes lit up and a little bit of that horniness from before came back. “So, hypothetically… Could you turn me?” A sly smile curled his lip. 

“You… would want to be Galra?” Lotor eyed him carefully.

Lance grew serious for a moment.

“Would it make me a better paladin?”

“It would make you _Galra_ ,” Lotor said, like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“I mean, Keith’s Galra,” Lance pointed out. “And he’s the leader of Voltron. I want to be better than him. I want to be better than Keith!”

Lotor snorted with amusement. “Maybe you should ask your red friend to bite you then.”

“What, Keith?” Lance cried. “No! No, no, no! No way would I ever-”

Skeptial eyes fell on him and he stopped talking. 

“How is asking me any different?” Lotor went on.

“Just, trust me. It’s different. I could never ask Keith to do that. Besides-” Lance leaned a little closer. “You’re, like, a space prince, aren’t you? That’s gotta be worth something.” Eyebrows flicked ever so slightly.

Lance carefully hid a gulp. Was this happening? Was he _flirting_ with Lotor? Or maybe he was just getting him to do what he wanted. He didn’t think about it too hard.

“And what do I get out of it?” Lotor, ever the diplomat, played along. “You, eternal Galra powers, and I?”

“I- I guess you can come to my Halloween party,” Lance mumbled. He didn’t admit that he’d been - reluctantly - planning on forcing him to attend anyways.

“Deal.” Lotor shut and subsequently set aside the large volume in his lap. He then began advancing towards Lance at an alarmingly rapid rate.

“Whoa, right now? Uh, okay... G-Give me a minute.” Lotor’s eyes didn’t stray from him while Lance psyched himself up for it. “Uh, how does this work?”

“One bite is all it takes. Usually.” A sly smile flashed. “Stand up.”

Lance did. Lotor towered over him and began circling him like a predator around prey.

“W-What’s happening? What are you doing?”

“Figuring out where I want to bite you. Or, do you have opinions about that, too?”

“Uh, my neck, I guess?” It seemed the most normal, if that even made sense. “Or, wherever is most effective.”

Lotor smirked and circled in closer. Clawed fingers traced down a long neck. Lance shivered but fought to not let it show. The bob of his Adam's apple betrayed his nerves.

“Relax, Blue Paladin. You have to trust me if this is going to work.”

Lance steadied himself and shut his eyes. Breath tickled the flesh above his collar bone and he braced for it. 

Something warm and rather nice melted onto his skin, but the knot in his stomach was still waiting for the pain to come. Lance was busy balancing unease and a strange kind of bliss, deciding which he should give in to, before he realized it…

That Lotor was sucking and _kissing_ his neck, not biting it.

“Whoa, what are you doing?” He pulled away.

“What are _you_ doing?” Lotor countered.

Lance looked down at where his hands were on Lotor’s chest. He didn't know how or when they’d gotten there. Were they keeping him at bay, beckoning him closer, or just _feeling_ him?

“I- I'm not sure,” he answered. They locked eyes again.

Breath pulling shallow, Lance dared to do it. He reached out and brushed back some of the hair from Lotor’s face. “Your hair’s really pretty, you know that?” He said without thinking and immediately feared the repercussions.

But, to his astonishment, genuine delight blossomed on Lotor’s face. He chuckled, no, he _giggled_ with amusement, in exactly the way Lance had always wanted Allura to. It left him swallowing a whimper.

“You like my hair?”

“Yeah. I think I do.”

“Well, Blue Paladin…” Lotor leaned in. “I like that you like my hair.” Voices were soft. Their faces were so close Lance swore they were about to kiss. His eyelids were even drooping in anticipation.

All of a sudden, Lotor grabbed him, spun him around, and pinned him against the bookshelf. One of Lance’s was arm lifted and held over his head by the wrist. 

“Oh my god!” Lance cried, half in shock at the unexpected and half in shock because he liked it.

“What's wrong, Blue Paladin? You seem a little flush.”

“I'm fine. Just-”

_Really turned on._

He couldn't say that.

But from the way Lotor’s free hand was caressing his middle, he had a feeling he already knew. Lance gave up trying to hide it. He breathed freely - heavily - and leaned into the man’s touch, asking for more of it - permitting it - with body language and soft moans.

Warm lips and wetness found his neck again. The suckling continued, growing heated and with gnashes of teeth thrown in eliciting a sharp breath from Lance every time. 

A hand palmed his crotch. Lance’s first instinct was to jerk away.

“Too much? Would you prefer I stop?” Lotor paused.

“Don’t ask me that!”

“Why not?” Words chuckled into Lance’s ear.

“Because-” Redness not visible in the dimness flooded Lance’s cheeks. “Then I have to say it...”

“Say what?” The soothing croon, the tickle of his lips intoxicated Lance on the spot.

“That I- I don’t want you to- I don’t want you to stop.” Barely more than a whisper, the words were born into existence. Lance guided the man’s hand down again. His eyes rolled shut, his head flung back. It was everything. The salve for the unending sexual frustration he’d been shouldering for months. Shamelessly, wantonly, he pressed into the hand palming the swell in his jeans. 

It happened quickly after that.

Lance, pressed up against the books, fly open and moaning loudly, a hand buried in his boxers. And Lotor, hard and grinding into him from behind, bending him at the hips, mimicking the act of fucking.

In the dizzy heat of it, Lance caught himself pondering what Lotor’s dick might look like. Was it _purple_? Would it be _alien-like_? He was just beginning to wonder what it would feel like to have a slithering cock inside him when suddenly-

“Oh-” He braced against the books. “Oh shit…”

He was close. Right on the edge, in fact.

“Hurry. Do it.” He writhed.

“What?” Equally lost in the moment, Lotor gasped like he didn’t understand.

“Bite me. Make me Galra like you.”

“Lance, about that. I don’t think-”

“Fucking- BITE ME!”

He snatched a fistful of Lotor’s hair and yanked him into position. Lotor curled around Lance’s neck with a guttural groan. The skin broke. Galra eyes flashed as fangs sank in. Lance cried out in his last moment of coherence before he was taken over the edge-

_Fuck yes, space vampire._

* * *

The blue paladin zipped up after, still lightheaded and with the bookshelf supporting half his weight. 

“Well, that was, um…”

 _Unexpected_ , he’d been about to say but ended up catching a flush-faced Lotor vanishing out the aisle of books instead. The candles floating in the air dropped to the floor and extinguished as soon as he was gone. Lance smirked to himself in the remaining light, finding it endearing that he’d scurried away so quickly. Probably to change his pants, he smirked more.

Reclaiming his balance, Lance snagged a still-lit candle from the floor and raced to a mirror he’d passed while searching for Lotor. 

“Oh, hell yeah!” He admired the bite mark in his neck and thin lines of blood trailing from it. “Third base with a space vampire? On Halloween?” He grinned widely. There was no beating that.

Lance made it back up onto the bridge just in time for the party. They were doing a round of sharing their costumes. Keith and Krolia had somehow procured sets of ears and come as cats. Allura and Coran were clad from head to toe in heavy armor in honor of the Altean warriors of old. Lance had been hoping Allura would go the sexy route but found himself preoccupied with someone else instead. Lotor had arrived in a cape that made him look even more vampy and had Lance internally swooning.

“Hark! I am Zorblax, the maddest scientist of them all! You will bow to my experiments!” Pidge upstaged Coran’s explanation of his armor and cackled menacingly with a robot claw for a hand. “No offense, Shiro.” She quickly hid her arm.

“None taken.” He smiled.

“Oh, me next? Is it me?” Hunk, wearing a rotted out chef’s hat and a ton of zombie makeup, cleared his throat. “I am Zordon Ramsey, the greatest undead chef this galaxy has ever known and I will feed you _brains!_ ” He grinned, posing with a plate of cookies shaped like the cranial organ.

They turned to Shiro.

“I’m ...just Shiro.” He sighed at his lackluster costume. He hadn’t been able to decide on just one.

“What, uh, what are you supposed to be, Lance?” Pidge asked and tried not to make it sound like he’d totally phoned it in.

“Oh.” Lance paused to clear his throat and properly preen himself. “I’m a human recently infused with Galra powers who is now poised to become the greatest leader of Voltron that ever was.” He announced like he was expecting applause. 

There was none.

“See? It’s because I got bit by a space vampire!” He pointed at the bite mark. 

Coran twisted his mustache while the others stared.

“So you’re _you_. With a space hickey.” Pidge summarized for the group.

“What? No! I’m a Galra space vampire and I’m going to lead Voltron.”

“That’s… very inventive, Lance.” Allura tried to hide her ire.

“Inventive? It’s real! If a Galra bites you then-”

Krolia cleared her throat and folded her arms at him.

Keith looked at his mom and then Lance. “Uh, Lance, I think you might be being offensive.”

“Offensive? No, I thought that-” 

“It’s an old fairy tale, told to weanlings.” Krolia cut in. “Space vampires don’t exist.”

It took a moment for it to sink in. The shell-shocked paladin looked to Lotor who was smiling with the particular brand of self-satisfaction that Lance detested most.

“You.” He pointed at Lotor. “You said that you were-”

“Did I say that?” Lotor replied smugly. “All Hallow’s Eve, right?” He turned to address the rest of the room. “The beginning of Allhallowtide, a time for remembering saints, martyrs, and the faithfully departed. And I’ve brought along this fabulous jack-o-lantern for the occasion.”

He pulled out a hollowed out piece of vegetation that resembled a gourd from behind his cape and placed it on the table as the centerpiece. 

Lance looked at it. “You fucking knew. You knew the whole time.” 

“Trick or treat, Blue Paladin.” Lotor simpered and fired off the subtlest of winks. “I’d say you got both.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no, Lance... T_T  
> He'll be fine, don't worry. I'm gonna write a little part two called **Happy Halloween, Blue Paladin** where Lance confronts Lotor. It'll be cute, fluffy, maybe a little spicy(?)
> 
> Thanks for joining me in rare pair hell. Comments are always appreciated, especially if you want more stuff like this. <3


	2. Happy Halloween, Blue Paladin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance got tricked and now he can't believe he told Lotor his hair was pretty, especially after that little stunt he just pulled at the Halloween party. In fact, the Blue Paladin might have a thing or two to say to him about that!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slides this one in right before the new year...

  


Blustering footsteps reverberated down a long stretch of hallway, a hallway that happened to lead to the room a certain space prince was staying in. Lotor had made a fast exit from the Halloween party, but if he thought it had gone unnoticed, he was wrong. Someone else had left early too.

“LOTOR!” 

A fist, raised and indignant, pounded on the door.

“LOTOR! OPEN THIS DOOR _RIGHT NOW!_ ”

More pounding.

Lance hammered away so hard that he almost missed the shuffling of feet on the other side of the barrier. After entirely too long a wait, there was a click in the lock and the door pulled back barely a crack. A single eyeball peered out.

“Oh. It's you,” Lotor said as if it hadn’t been obvious from the pounding.

“Damn right it's me!" Lance seethed through the tiny gap. He didn’t wait for an invitation and shoved his way inside.

Lotor sighed as though he’d been expecting it and shut the door behind him. He watched his guest pace back and forth in the small quarters, wringing his hands and trying and failing to get out more than irate huffs and puffs.

“I supposed you’ve come to talk about my little prank,” Lotor began with some discomfort and maybe even a smidge of remorse. Lance was too angry to notice.

“Prank? _Prank?_ ” His voice reached new octaves.

“Blue Paladin, listen-”

“No, I will not listen!” Lance cut him off, arms flailing wildly. “You humiliated me in front of everybody! Do you have any idea how stupid I feel right now?” He managed the one coherent thought then went right back to the anxious loop his legs had him on. “Just what the hell was that?” He asked the floor and the far wall more than the other man present in the room.

Lotor bowed his head slightly. 

“It was meant to be a joke, a trick, if you will, in the spirit of the festivities.” 

“A joke? Are you serious?”

“I admit it did go a bit far.” Lotor appeared troubled. “Though in my defense, I didn't think you’d actually believe vampires were real.”

“Yeah, well in _my_ defense, it wasn’t very long ago that I didn’t think mermaids were real either! Or _aliens_ for that matter.” Lance jutted out his chin and sneered at the non-earthling before him. “Look-” He sighed tiredly. “You are the last person I expect to understand, but after all the things I’ve seen since we left Earth- After all the worlds we’ve been to- Heck, I pilot a flying cat robot, I’d probably believe unicorns existed if you told me so.” Seemingly at a loss, the Blue Paladin sank onto the edge of the bed, the only sitable surface in the more functional than hospitable room. “I really don’t know what’s real anymore.”

Lotor smiled at him, though it wasn’t pityingly for long. “It is understandably a lot to take in.” The space prince carefully placed himself down a safe distance away on the bed, too. “Perhaps my apologies are in order for showing you up in front of your friends. And... For getting carried away in… other ways, too.” His eyes flitted to the mark on Lance’s neck. Lance threw a hand over it, ashamed. “But you were so sweet.” Lotor’s head tilted affectionately. “Explaining your holiday to me and I- Well, I suppose I liked listening to you.”

“You liked listening... _To me?_ ” Lance looked up, a mild blush spoiling his pout. The delicate smile he found waiting for him only confirmed it. Lotor was flirting with him. Again. He hadn’t misread it the last time. “Wait a second, what about Allura? Aren’t you guys, like, a thing?” He made a motion with his hands implying as much.

Lotor hesitated, growing almost awkward for a flash. It wouldn’t have been obvious were Lance not watching him so closely. “Listen, I like Allura plenty and I’m well aware that she's fond of me too, and the things we could accomplish together are surely boundless, but…”

“But what?” Lance scoffed. Being half of an Altean power couple that could reunite the galaxy wasn’t good enough for Space Prince Lotor?

Lotor did a thing with eyes that alluded to certain clandestine things that had happened between them earlier that night.

“Oh. OH!” Lance was taken aback. “You’re- You’re ...like that.”

“It wasn’t all fake, you know. Just the part about vampires,” Lotor muttered, a touch of embarrassment underscoring his words.

“Huh.” Lance found himself grinning as smugness crept back into his veins. “Space vampires might not be a thing, but I guess space gays are.”

“Whatever you choose to call it.” Lotor politely chuckled away any discomfort he was pretending not to be feeling.

“Okay, but just so we’re clear,” Lance went on. “I know some things happened down in the library, I know I may have even encouraged some of it, but it’s not like I’m- Well, I mean, I’m not-”

Lotor raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, fine. Maybe I’m a little bit ...that way.” Lance had to look away while he admitted it. 

Lotor smiled like he already knew.

Lance’s hands settled on his knees as he sat with it. There was also the weight of Lotor’s inquisitive gaze to contend with. “Sorry, it’s just, I’ve never told anybody that before. And, God, why am I telling you!” He was back on his feet pulling at his hair again.

“Calm yourself, Blue Paladin. I’m not going to spill your secrets.”

“Like I fucking believe you! I can’t trust you!”

Lotor saddened but didn’t argue.

“Ugh, let’s just forget what happened in that creepy library and go back to hating each other.” Lance started to leave. Lotor didn’t stop him.

“Lance…” Lotor called to him when he had his hand on the door.

Irritated, Lance turned to look back at him and made it clear this was the last thing he was going to entertain that night.

“Do you really think my hair is pretty?”

Lance felt it coming. It started slowly, then came on like rushing wildfires and no matter what he did, no matter how much he denied it, he couldn't stop it. His skin flushed red - hot and bright - all the way from the tips of his ears to down into the neckline of his t-shirt. How his face wasn’t burning a hole in the side of the castle ship and serving as a blinding beacon to Zarkon and the rest of their enemies crawling about the galaxy was a mystery to him. 

“Ugh! God, yeah it is!” Lance stopped trying to hide it. “What the hell kind of shampoo do you use anyway?” His hand slid off the door knob and Lotor beamed at the response. 

“It’s my own special blend. I’d let you try it but you need something a bit more- Moisturizing.” The Galran prince rose and dared to brush his fingers through Lance’s hair again. “Something that gives you some volume.” 

“Yeah? You think you could make me something like that?” Lance looked up at him a little differently than he had before, more softly, more unsure. Lotor’s hand traced the side of his face and came to rest on his shoulder. Lance was afraid to blink, lest they break eye contact. He wasn’t exactly sure what came next, but standing there so closely, he had a feeling… Something they hadn’t done in the basement. Wide, blue eyes flitted to Lotor’s lips.

But he wouldn’t.

They couldn’t...

_Kiss._

Could they? 

Just the thought of it left Lance inwardly screaming. He wanted it but didn’t know how to say it let alone admit it to himself, and all the while Lotor’s discerning eyes were upon him, reading him, prying into his mind and accessing every one of his private thoughts.

Lotor moved, and Lance started to close his eyes, but then the edges of the space prince’s smirk faltered, almost as if he’d lost his nerve too.

“Thank you, Blue Paladin. I enjoyed our time together tonight.” With a final squeeze of his shoulder, Lotor stepped away like that was it.

Lance blinked at the lost moment. 

“Well, hey, we could do it again sometime.” He started after the retreating prince. “It’s not like I _hated_ spending time with you either. But it doesn’t have to be- Uh, I mean-” He started to backpedal away from what was sounding like the beginnings of romance.

“What is it you mean?” Lotor spun on him and took a step closer. “What is it that you want, Blue Paladin?” 

“What I- What I want?” Lance’s eyes fixated on Lotor’s lips again. The taller man’s unwavering gaze compelling him to be truthful. “What I want is-”

Lance shut his eyes and took a breath before setting his jaw firm. He wanted to be clear - with himself as much as with Lotor.

“I want to go on a date with you. A space date.”

“A space date?” Lotor considered, surprised but pleasantly and with a coy smile brewing. “How is that different from a regular date?”

“It’s not. Just in space.” Lance snickered shyly.

The space prince grinned to himself first and then to his company.

“Alright then. A space date,” Lotor happily agreed. “Perhaps while we’re on it, you can tell me about your next Earth holiday.”

“You know, Halloween’s not over yet,” Lance cleverly pointed out. “Speaking of which… Lotor, trick or treat.”

“Treat.” Lotor smiled before pulling him close, ready to deliver on the kiss he had withheld before. “Always treat.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this went the fluff route. I love me some soft Lancelot tho, so I don't mind. Hope you didn't mind either ^^;
> 
> Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!


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